Has anyone ever paired these two pieces of gear with any success? Heading to India and need to travel light so I'm only taking 16-35mm and a 50mm. I'm afraid I won't have enough reach with just those 2 lenses hence the extender idea

Or just carry around the 50mm. Not enough reach? Get closer. Not wide enough? Step back!Though for travel, and if you want scenery/indoor then of course, carry the 16-35.

As for extenders, yeah- no, you'd be better off with cropping, that's right, you indefinitely lose qualityby using an extender, especially on a unsupported lens, and if you don't mind quality thenheck go get yourself a compact super zoom. And I also agree that either the 85 or 100 F2 are good alternatives.

It'll work.... but trust me, don't do it. You'll have cloudy, discolored photos that aren't worth a thing. Keep in mind, that you'll need to stop it down to a minimum of 4.0 to get anything resembling reality, more likely 5.6. I have the exact pairing and it's just not worth it.

Extenders don't generally work well with retrofocus lenses. Thats why they specify using them with a lens of 100mm or longer. It might physically function with the 50, but you might not be happy with the results.